29th Sunday after Pentecost / Sunday of the Holy
Fathers / Forefeast of Nativity
Beatitudes on 12,
Octoechos: 4; Fathers: 4, Ode 3; Forefeast: 4, Ode 6.
1. By the tree was Adam forced to depart from paradise; but by the Tree of the Cross was the thief made to dwell in paradise. For the one by tasting, broke the commandment of the creator; while the other, crucified with Him, confessed the hidden God, crying out: Remember me in Thy kingdom! 2. O Lord Who wast lifted up upon the Cross, Who hast destroyed the power of death and as God hast destroyed the record of our sins, grant also the repentance of the thief unto us who faithfully serve Thee and cry out to thee, O Christ God Who alone lovest mankind: Remember us also in Thy kingdom! 3. On the Cross Thou didst tear asunder with the spear the record of our sins; and, numbered among the dead, Thou didst bind the tyrant of hades, O Lord Who lovest mankind, Who by Thy resurrection hast delivered all from the bonds of hades. Thereby have we been illumined, and we cry to Thee: Remember us also in Thy kingdom! 4. O Thou Who alone art immortal, Who wast crucified and as almighty didst arise from the tomb on the third day, and hast raised up Adam, the first created: Vouchsafe that I also may turn to repentance with my whole heart, and may ever cry out to Thee with fervent faith: Remember me, O Savior, in Thy kingdom! 5. Faithfully preserving the glory of the image and likeness of God, with the fire of the
Spirit the children, as champions, extinguished the fire of the golden image, chanting: We
know but one Lord!
6. The captive children, clothed with the wisdom and power of the Spirit, put to shame
the wise men of
lovest mankind!
7. The law doth rejoice and joineth chorus with the children and the prophets and doth
exult today before the divine advent of the Lord. And Abraham doth rejoice, for from his
seed hath the incarnate Lord appeared.
8. A conception without pain, an acceptance of thy birthgiving hath transpired in
manner beyond recounting, O Theotokos, for the Word of God, Who is God and was
proclaimed by the prophets, hath shown Himself to be a mystery beyond nature.
9 & 10. O
Mistress, as a new heaven thou dost come, that Christ, the Sun of glory, might
shine forth in
the flesh from thy womb, as through a cloud, in the cave; for, in His
boundless
loving-kindness, He desireth splendidly to illumine all who are of this earth
with rays of His
own light.
11. Thou didst perceive our infirmity and misery,
O compassionate Christ, and didst not
disdain us; but,
without leaving the Father, Thou didst abase Thyself and make Thine
abode in the womb
of her who knew not wedlock, who now cometh forth to give birth
unto Thee,
without pain, in the cave.
12. Ye mountains and hills, fields and vales,
people and generations, nations and every
creature: exult,
filled with divine gladness, for the deliverance of all, the Word of God,
the Timeless One,
Who in His loving-kindness hath come under time, doth come with
haste.
Troparia
Tone 4: Having learned the joyful proclamation of the Resurrection from the angel, /
and having cast off the ancestral condemnation, /the women disciples of the Lord spake to the apostles exultantly: /Death is despoiled and Christ God is risen, //granting to the world great mercy.
Glory… Tone 2: Great are the achievements of faith! /
In the fountain of flame, as in
refreshing water, /
the Three Holy Children
rejoiced. /
And the prophet Daniel proved a
shepherd of lions as of sheep. //
By their prayers, O Christ God,
save our souls.
Both now… Tone 4: Make ready, O Bethlehem, /
Eden hath been opened unto all. /
Prepare, O Ephratha, /
for the Tree of life hath blossomed in the cave from the Virgin. /
For her womb proved to be a spiritual paradise /
wherefrom there came the Divine Plant, /
whereof eating we shall live and not die like Adam. /
Christ is born //
to raise the image that fell of old.
The Epistle
Reader: The
Prokimenon in the 4th Tone: Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the God of our
fathers, and praised and glorified is Thy name unto
the ages.
Choir: Blessed
art Thou, O Lord, the God of our fathers, and praised and glorified is
Thy name unto the ages.
Reader: For righteous art Thou in all which Thou hast
done for us.
Choir: Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the God of our
fathers, and praised and glorified is Thy
name unto the ages.
Reader: Blessed art Thou, O Lord, the God of our fathers.
Choir: And praised and glorified is Thy name unto the ages.
Reader:
The
[Hebrews 11:9-10,17-23,32-40 (§328)]
Reader: Alleluia in the 4th Tone:
Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: O
God, with our ears have we heard, for our fathers have told us.
Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Reader: Thou
hast saved us from them that afflict us, and them that hate us hast Thou put
to shame.
Choir: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Gospel [Matthew 1:1-25
(§1)]
Kontakia
Glory… Tone 1:
Rejoice, O
Ephratha, make ready! /
for behold, the Ewe hasteneth to give birth unto the Great Shepherd /
Whom she carrieth in her womb. /
And seeing Him, the God-bearing Fathers rejoice, //
and with the shepherds praise the Virgin who giveth milk.
Both now… Tone 3:
Today the Virgin cometh to give birth ineffably /
to the pre-eternal Word in the cave. /
Dance, O world! And having heard this, /
with the angels and shepherds glorify the pre-eternal God, //
Who is to appear as a little babe.